Resource-efficient and high-speed PRINCE cipher for enhanced RFID security

Abstract

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a core
technology inside the rapidly expanding Internet of Things (IoT),
with several applications in various industries. However, RFID
systems have significant privacy and security risks. To address
these difficulties, this paper proposes an efficient RFID-based
mutual authentication protocol (MAP) that uses the PRINCE
lightweight cipher. The proposed PRINCE cipher utilizes
a pipelined design supported by an enhanced control mechanism
for round operations, resulting in significantly improved
throughput and operating efficiency. This design's integrated
hardware architecture allows it to carry out both encryption and
decryption duties smoothly. The protocol uses five encryption and
two decryption operations during the mutual authentication
process between RFID tags and readers to provide a safe
connection. Performance evaluations show that the suggested
PRINCE cipher outperforms existing solutions in terms of area
utilization and efficiency. Operating at 224 MHz, the architecture
has a remarkable latency of 3.5 clock cycles and a throughput of
4.11 Gbps. When integrated into the RFID-based MAP, it achieves
a throughput of 374.6 Mbps, an efficiency of 140.7 Kbps/Slice, and
a processing latency of 0.355 μs. Such performance shows its
effectiveness and suitability as a robust security solution for IoT
environments.